Scammed out of $15k

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I just saw a story on the local news about a guy who got scammed out of close to $2400 last fall, and then got scammed again for $15k just recently. Apparently a man and woman claiming to be police detectives (complete with badges) showed up at his door earrlier this week claiming that they were following up on his previous fraud claim (from the first scam). They said that they had now had suspects, and had reason to believe they might be involved in a counterfeiting ring. They went on to say that they needed this poor guy’s help… They accompanied him to the bank where he withdrew $15k that he had been saving for retirement, handed it over to them, and agreed to meet them at the police station. Not surprisingly, the ‘detectives’ never showed up. Clearly, this guy wasn’t too bright, as the story that the scammers fed him definitely didn’t add up… But it was pretty sad just the same. I have to hand it to the victim, though… He was clearly humiliated, but he still went on TV to warn others about the scam and caution them not to fall for it.

To hand over $15k to anyone obviously wasn’t a smart move, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this person needed the money more than most. There are stories every day of con artists taking the life’s savings of old and possibly feeble minded people. I haven’t seen the article, but people who show signs of Alzheimer’s are prime targets. I hope other commenters who aren’t showing much compassion don’t ever have to worry about an older relative. And for those who do, this is yet another example of something to watch out for.

Jim, that’s what it sounds like… However, notte that the previous scammers (who may have actually been the same people) *took* money from him, they didn’t give it to him. Why then would the cops need to see the money (even if he believed that the bank actually sets aside the exact same dollars for later withdrawal). So it’s even dumber than it sounds at first.

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